Season’s Greenings from the U.S. Postal Service

WASHINGTON — Holly branches and pine boughs aren’t the only green signs of the holiday season — mailers and shippers can also count on the Postal Service to help them go green, save green, and be green this time of year.

“The Postal Service is one of the greenest mailing and shipping companies in the world,” said Thomas G. Day, chief sustainability officer. “We offer more than a half-billion eco-friendly mailing and shipping supplies, free package pickup and holiday cards printed on recycled paper available in 2,000 Post Offices, and the Postal Service is leading the adoption of green practices by engaging our employees, customers and suppliers.”

The Postal Service offers customers options to help reduce their carbon footprints, just as it consistently seeks ways to reduce its own environmental impact.

“We have a ‘fleet of feet’ delivering mail the greenest way possible, by walking,” Day added. “Nearly 9,000 of our carriers will be delivering holiday mail on foot this season. And we also have nearly 80,000 ‘park and loop’ routes, where carriers will drive vehicles from the Post Office to neighborhoods and then deliver those holiday packages and cards on foot.”

Green Packaging The Postal Service has established rigorous sustainable green packaging standards for its Priority Mail and Express Mail supplies, and a majority of ReadyPost boxes, envelopes and labels. By buying packaging made with recycled content, USPS helps sustain green jobs in America as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions to the environment. Priority Mail and Express Mail supplies are free to customers and can be delivered at no charge by ordering from the Post Office that's always open24 hours a day.

Green PostageTens of billions of postage products, including stamps and stamped envelopes and postal cards, are made with post-consumer recycled content, providing an environmentally responsible use for America’s waste paper. Festive holiday stamps can add just the right touch to seasonal greeting cards and a large assortment of holiday stamps and customized holiday cards is available at the Postal Store or the Design Mail and Postage Store.

Green ShippingCustomers can save fuel this Yule by ordering free shipping supplies, print shipping labels and pay for postage, all from the comfort of home or office. The Postal Service will pick up packages free the next business day and send them on their merry way to cheer loved ones wherever they are. Skip the trip and save time, money and fuel this holiday season.

Green DeliveryThe Postal Service will deliver 16.5 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve using the largest civilian fleet in the world — 215,000 vehicles. Among them are a range of alternative fuel-capable vehicles, including three-wheeled electric vehicles with zero gas emissions that operate at a cost of only 2 cents a mile, as well as vehicles that can operate on compressed natural gas, propane, ethanol, and fuel cell. There also will be 30 large all-electric trucks delivering holiday mail in Manhattan.

RecyclingThe Postal Service has made recycling a priority. Secure recycle bins in more than 10,000 Post Office lobbies make it easy for customers to read, respond and recycle their PO Box mail during the holidays, and helped customers divert approximately 56,000 tons of paper from landfills last year. The Postal Service recycled nearly 225,000 tons of paper, plastics and other waste in 2010, which avoided more than 700,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Customers can go online to find one of 100,000 recycling centers around the country.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.